Watt’s the story?
In a world of dirty diesels and talk of “normal” cars being banned from our roads in just a few decades, now is a great time to be looking at alternatives.
Electric vehicles and their best-of-bothworlds hybrid brothers are a world away from those chugging diesels you see plodding around our road networks, belching out black stuff from their exhausts.
EVs offer a world of silent motoring, of brisk acceleration and reduced running costs. However, there are still very few to choose from and although the technology is improving all the time, it is still somewhat in its infancy.
The most obvious example of that is the sheer complications that surround buying, owning and charging one. As you’ll find out in this Total EV supplement, there are some incredible alternatives to internal-combustion-engined cars out there, but you’ll need to go into the purchase with your eyes open.
Some EVs not only require you to buy the car, but you’ll need to lease the batteries too. Not all EVs and hybrids use the same charging sockets, while some work with fast chargers, and some don’t.
What the world of EVs needs is clarity and uniformity. Manufacturers and charging networks need to stop working in isolation and start working together. Imagine if your phone only plugged into one type of socket that wasn’t in every home – would you put up with that? Or what if you had to rent the phone’s battery on top of the price of the phone? Early EV adopters are doing just that and until the industry gets together and decides on a one-size fits all approach, buying an EV will always take a great deal of research – which is where Total EV can help.
Plenty of drivers have made the switch to electric cars – and more and more are following suit. What’s more, it’s very clear that the car industry has its satnav set for a clear course to more electrification.
What we need now is national direction from our government on a charging infrastructure that’s fit for purpose - a national grid of points, not piecemeal networks run by private companies. And with that, international decisions need to be made between car manufacturers to simplify charging. All of them agreeing on the same charging inlets would make life a lot easier for a start. Electric and hybrid cars are not the right mobility solution for everyone, just yet, but they will be if these things improve. By working together, the government and car industry can shift our addiction to petrol and diesel and supercharge change.
All you need to do is decide when’s the right time for you to plug in and take part.
“It’s very clear that the car industry has its satnav set for a clear course to more electrification”